As convenient as modern cellphones are, there's a certain charm to spinning an old-fashioned rotary dial to make a call -- and now, there's a cellphone that caters to that nostalgia. Brookhaven National Lab engineer Justine Haupt has developed a rot...
It’s a pain to teach older folks how to use a smartphone again and again. It’s time we had a phone that they can use easily, so they stop bothering us. This is perfect. YouTube’s Mr. Volt built a custom cellphone out of aluminum, brass, and wood with a working rotary dial – just like the old days!
It’s super old-school, thanks to its brick-like form factor and hefty weight. The other features are equally dated, like a tiny OLED display, enough memory to store one phone number, and an FM radio. Your grandparents are going to love this. If I’m being honest, it looks pretty damn cool and retro. I would use it.
Who are we kidding? Grandma is still going to have questions. Hopefully not as many.
These days, Dremel rotary tools are pretty affordable, but if you want one for the price of free you can make one from stuff you likely already have around the house. It may not have all of the power of the real thing, but it will handle simple jobs for you.
This is a simple build that uses a small motor, a 9 volt battery, a switch, some electrical tape and hot glue. The cutting wheel is made from a bottle cap and a pen refill. It will even cut through soft woods like balsa. You can learn how to build your own from the video from Mr. Gear below:
Even if you already have a Dremel, this looks like a fun project to do. Just remember to be safe and wear some goggles and keep your appendages away from the blade. You are spinning a sharp bottle cap after all, even if it is just powered by a 9-volt battery.
If there’s one thing I truly don’t miss about land-line telephones, it’s the really old rotary dial phones. Not only did it take so much longer to dial numbers on these phones, but it was really easy to make a mistake on them. Thankfully, rotary phones have gone the way of the dinosaurs. But if still you long for the days of the dial, you can add one to your iPhone.
Thanks to the miracles of 3D printing tech, designer Joa Baldwin was able to produce this clever iPhone case with a rotary dial built into it. You can’t actually use it to dial numbers, but it has a coil spring which allows it to spin back to its original position when dialed. Since the printing is pretty intricate, you’ll need to follow the tips in the video below to ensure that the dial turns smoothly.
Stick your finger in your web browser and dial up (SH)APE-WAYS, where you can buy the rotary dial iPhone case for about $20(USD). While you’re over there, be sure to grab a bacon mobius strip – guaranteed to taste like plastic, not bacon.
The Vertical Rotary Socket is a new way of looking at power cord extension or multi-plugs. The design offers a simple solution of a rotating base, giving you the liberty of plugging in the various shapes and forms of plug-heads, without them interfering with each other for space. Sweet!
Designer: Xue Shi Huai
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As convenient as modern cellphones are, there's a certain charm to spinning an old-fashioned rotary dial to make a call -- and now, there's a cellphone that caters to that nostalgia. Brookhaven National Lab engineer Justine Haupt has developed a rot...
